Ted Nugent: “Ignorance Of The Law Is No Excuse”

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The Motor City Madman has posted a lengthy essay on his website, “Ignorance Of The Law Is No Excuse.” In it, he addresses his recent legal troubles after illegally killing a bear during a hunt in Alaska in May 2009. The kill was filmed for his Spirit Of The Wild show on The Outdoor Channel. Nugent exceeded the limit of one bear kill per geographic area per year, and also violated the law saying that if a hunter wounds a bear, they then have to track it down and kill it. Nugent pled guilty by phone on Tuesday.

In his essay he cited the “increasingly complex, illogical hunting and fishing regulations across the nation,” noting that Alaska’s hunting regulation is 128 pages long. He compared it to the recent health care bill.

He explains his actions in the essay, saying, “The first arrow I shot on that hunt was obviously a non-lethal shot where the arrow literally glanced off the animal’s rib, as seen clearly on stop action video. The bear leapt, stopped, looked around, and slowly ambled off, confused but unhurt by the disruption. After diligent effort by my son and me, we were convinced that this bear was alive and well. We then continued our hunt and ultimately killed a beautiful black bear.”

He argues that the fact that he filmed the entire hunt, and aired it, proved that he had not intended to violate any laws. However, he concedes: “Was I negligent in not knowing the Alaska bear hunting rule for the specific region I hunted that year? Absolutely. For my negligence, I have been charged with a violation and I pled guilty. To the best of my knowledge, I am the only person ever charged with violating this new, unheard of law. Lifetime AK hunters, guides, outfitters, even the resident judge at my hearing were unaware of such an unprecedented regulation.”

This comes just days after Nugent was interviewed by Secret Service agents after making inflammatory remarks about President Obama during a radio program at the NRA’s National Convention in St. Louis. According to reports, the Secret Service determined that Nugent poses no threat to the President.

On the musical front, Nugent tours with Styx and REO Speedwagon through the summer.